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Text description provided by the architects. House in House is an exploration of site boundary as limiter, as frame to both internal and external spaces, form and void. House in House is a new build in a streetscape with significant heritage value. Our idea was that the home be an ‘uneasy fit’ within the street, creating a dialogue, an ongoing easy tension, with its predominantly federation style neighbours.

House in House is the articulation of a paradigm that considers an individual object as part of an entity which in itself is part of an even larger entity and so on. The key design decision was to develop the house as an array of small houses that are held together by a central circulation spine, similar to a row of houses on both sides of a street. House in House contains five distinct internal pavilions or houses and three courtyards or voids.

Each of the pavilions or houses has discrete functions, and each individual house is linked through a main axis, doubling as both circulation spine and gallery for the couple’s extensive art collection. The courtyards punctuate the pavilions, drawing in natural light and ventilation. The largest courtyard frames the limits of the block and is for outdoor entertaining under a pergola. The smaller courtyards feature lush plantings, a retreat for one or two. This project is designed to passive solar principles.